THREAD AND FABRIC DREAMS COME TRUE con't

I am thinking some quilting terminology and definitions might be in order for our blog, for example the word STASH. I imagine the definition would be something like 'goods or products held in a secret place'....how many times have I "stashed" the fabric in the trunk of the car until my husband goes to bed? How about "FAT QUARTER"? Now that is a loaded phrase, isn't it? Let's see, if I use it in a sentence with context clues if you get the meaning: "If I buy these 4 fat quarters, I will have a yard of fabric needed for the inner border." See, it's simple...fat quarters is a way to get a squarish chunk of fabric, rather than a long skinny 1/4 yard of fabric. So 4
FAT Quarters equals a yard of fabric. Buying fat quartes allows for more variety....
Or the words PIECER and QUILTER; the 1st assembles the cut pieces into a block, then the blocks into a quilt top, whereas the other, creates a design and stitches, either by hand or machine, the pieced top into a final product. Most of us enjoy piecing, but do not own a longarm quilting machine and prefer someone to quilt the piece. I have so much respect for those who quilt huge bedquilts on their own sewing machines....how do they do that???
Many words in quilting carry an "EEHW Factor". We literally gag at the thought of certain processes in quilting, like paper piecing or English piecing...now that draws a big EEHW from many; same with applique with blanket stitching or needle turned, hand quilting, or using templates rather than strip piecing. Many of the older, more skilled quilters have experienced it all and have modern preferences ...one has to admit that the rotary cutter has revolutionized piecing. Whatever your "EEHW factor", one has to admire someone who can do it all with love.

Did I digress or what? I wanted to talk about the fabulous shops that we visited, some in beautifully landscaped countryside and others in shopping malls with a Starbucks around the corner. They all carried different lines and types of fabric, patterns, tools, kits, ideas, fat quarters and pleasing displays designed to make our shopping easier; gifts, discounts, sales, treats, thank you gifts and smiles were provided by these 8 shops. We swarmed these places.....often choosing fabric shopping over food!!! All of us waited in cutting lines and then check out lines for over an hour to give these owners our $$$. For the most part we left with bags full of civil war fabric, reproduction fabric, patriotic fabric, flannel, jelly rolls, charm packs, layer cakes, Kaffe Fassett, Moda, Jo Morton and Jinny Beyer fabric, pattern books, wool, batting, and gobs of fat quarters! What I must say is that this group had Civil War Fabric FEVER. It was a frenzy and at one point, I shared 1 5/8 yards of civil war fabric with 4 fellow quilters. In the very last shop we went to, one of the gals walked up to a line and fabric and said,"Oh my god, I have been looking for this fabric for 6 months!" She could hardly contain herself...that happens to us frequently, we run out of fabric and so begins an odyssey only Ulysses would understand! One of the things that the QBT organizers did was to provide gift certificates for each shop we went to...so just before exiting the bus, they would draw 2 names and these ladies would get gift certificate to the store we were at. I won a gift certificate, so did Debbie. Watch for the picture of a true WINNER!